Untimed PT 1-35

shibaENU

Hey guys, I just entered the PT phase of my lsat prep. I am planning on taking preptest 1-35 untimed, do blind review. And then, take full length timed test from PT 36. What do you guys think of this approach? Should I maybe do untimed from like 1-20? then from 21 move on to timed test?

st_cupertino

That is great you are starting with untimed PTs! However, I think you may not need to do that many. From what I have learned from quite a few others, it is better if you set your target score, and once you hit your target score on an untimed PT or two, then you can move on to doing timed PTs. This approach will most likely save you more tests- timing is the biggest beast to conquering the LSAT and the more you can practice timing, the better (after you have a solid grip of the material, of course). So with that in mind, don't go in to your untimed PTs with a set number to do, just go in with the mindset you will do as many it takes to get your goal score.

McBeck418

I'll second what @st_cupertino said. I'm not sure you need to do 1-35 untimed, unless you're really really struggling with the fundamental concepts, and if you are, then it might be better to return to the curriculum and try to see what you've missed.

I took 4 untimed tests coming out of the curriculum where I would try to move at a decent pace and then afterward, go back over the few that I felt like I took way too long on and forced myself to move on. Once I felt comfortable with the scores I was getting, I moved on to timed PTs.

There are a few things I gained from this experience:

1) I think it's an okay way to test to see what you know out of the curriculum. If you're taking the PT untimed and you're not scoring well, you know that there's still some concepts you're not getting.
2) use a stopwatch to time how long it takes. I didn't do this and I regret it. It would have put my timed PTs in better perspective if I knew how long the untimed sessions actually took vs my perception of them.
3) Your timed PTs will probably be (at least mine were) very very different from your untimed PTs and this can be super frustrating and disheartening. I would think of the untimed PT as a way to get accustomed to the format, to the type of questions, to the type of language, and to some extent, show you how much you know, but I wouldn't let a 174 untimed sway you from the amount of work you'll have to put in (assuming your diagnostic wasn't already very high to begin with) to get that on a timed PT. Timed tests are just a whole different beast.

I think doing this can be helpful, but you just have to be aware of what exactly you're using it for and what specifically it is showing you.